WAKEFIELD — The Wakefield High volleyball team made their trip to the MIAA Div. 3 state tournament official with a 3-1 victory over Stoneham on Oct. 15 at Stoneham High. The Warriors earned their 10th victory in that one, which automatically qualifies them for the tourney as they will finish at least above .500.
Wakefield continued their busy week with 3-1 losses to Burlington and Danvers on Thursday and Monday, respectively; a 3-1 win over North Andover on Saturday and a 3-0 win over Watertown last night, improving to 12-7 overall.
Wakefield’s last regular season game is set for tomorrow night, 6:30 p.m. against Wilmington. The Warriors will honor their four seniors before the match.
Wakefield was ranked No. 18 in the latest Div. 3 power rankings.
In their road win over Stoneham, Wakefield bounced back from a 25-21 loss in set one to win the next three sets, 25-9, 25-17 and 25-20.
Wakefield’s senior captains, Brooklyn Calder and Sophia Anderson, led the way in this one. Anderson earned her 500th career dig as she finished with a team-high 19 while also adding 12 serve receptions and 5 kills. Calder was named the player of the game with 2 aces, 13 digs, 28 receptions and 8 assists from the libero position. Wakefield’s balanced attack featured 8 kills from junior Lila Arkinstall, 6 from junior Emma Ickes, 5 from junior Cara Carangelo and 4 from junior Jackie Sullivan.
Juniors Tori Grace and Allison Cook added 12 and 6 assists, respectively.
Wakefield was also strong from the service line, led by Arkinstall who had 8 aces.
The Warriors, who had a big 3-1 win over Burlington at the Charbonneau Field House on Sept. 18, were returned the favor by the Red Devils at BHS on Thursday. To Wakefield’s credit, they bounced back from two lopsided set losses to start the match, winning set three 25-20 before Burlington put it away with a 25-20 win in set four.
Anderson was the player of the game for Wakefield in this one, leading the team in kills with 10 and aces with 3 while also playing strong defense with a team-high 20 digs.
Arkinstall added 8 kills and an ace. Calder had 13 digs and 29 receptions while Grace paced the team with 15 assists.
Wakefield made sure they had a positive response against North Andover on Saturday at home, winning set one 25-15, set two 25-8 and set four 25-15 after the Scarlet Knights took the third set, 25-22.
Cook was the player of the game in this one, earning 10 assists, 5 aces, 3 blocks and 2 digs.
Leading the Warriors in kills was Carangelo with 9. Anderson and Sullivan each had 6 aces while sophomore Kiera Thomson added 5. Anderson had 14 digs and junior Brendia Diaz added 13 digs.
Wakefield battled hard on the road against Danvers on Monday, coming back again from a 2-0 deficit to win the third, 25-22 before the Falcons finished it up with a 25-17 win in the fourth.
Arkinstall was locked in during this one, collecting 15 kills to earn player of the game honors. She also had one of Wakefield’s four blocks as they played well at the net. Sullivan had 6 kills while Carangelo and Calder each added 5.
Sullivan and Cook each had 5 aces while Anderson (24) and Carangelo (16) led the way in digs.
Grace (15) and Cook (12) both had plenty of assists.
Wakefield rolled to set victories of 25-10, 25-5 and 25-10 in Watertown last night.
Player of the game went to senior Ava Serino who had 4 aces, 4 digs, an assist and a kill while playing great defense all night.
Ickes and Sullivan led the way with 6 kills each, while Calder added 5.
Cook had 9 service aces. Diaz also joined Serino with 4.
Anderson led the way with 11 digs while Grace and Cook each had 9 assists.
The Warriors will hope for one more win on Senior Night tomorrow. A victory would hopefully raise their ranking as they battle for a home match in the state tournament. As the current 18th rank, Wakefield will need to move up to 16 in order to have a home game in the tourney.